The mobile carrier said its T map Parking app can help drivers solve many problems caused by parking issues.

“After a year-long development period, SK Telecom launched the T map Parking app to solve parking problems that many drivers have been experiencing,” Lee Jong-ho, director of the company’s mobile business unit, told reporters at company headquarters in Seoul.

“Many drivers don’t know exactly where to park their vehicles, the availability of parking spaces or the price of parking fees.”

SK Telecom jointly entered the local parking management market together with its security service affiliate ADT Caps.

“While SK Telecom will be responsible for the T map Parking mobile app, ADT Caps will work as an actual operator of the parking lots, offering 24-hour security service,” the company said.

Through the mobile app, drivers can check the availability of parking spaces near their destinations and pay their parking fees online. To attract more consumers to its parking service, the company has promotional offers as well.

SK Telecom has secured 208 parking lots throughout the country, which it operates or has a partnership with the owners. It plans to expand the number of parking lots to 350 by the end of 2019 and 600 by 2020.

The mobile carrier added that its mobile parking app will also benefit parking lot operators and local governments.

“By using T map Parking app, drivers can use parking service more conveniently and parking lot operators can manage their parking spaces more efficiently. Also, the mobile parking app can be a smart fix for local governments’ parking problems,” Lee said.

He added that the social cost stemming from illegal parking amounted to 4.9 trillion won a year as of 2016, according to a report by the Samsung Traffic Safety Research Institute.

When asked why the telecom firm launched its mobile parking app independently instead of adding the service to its popular T map mobile navigation app, Jang Yoo-sung, head of the company’s mobility business, said consumers will be able to use its taxi calling service, navigation service and parking service in one integrated platform by the end of 2019.